U.S. patent application number 12/235258 was filed with the patent office on 2009-05-07 for method and system for controlling the arrangements of windows on a display.
This patent application is currently assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. Invention is credited to Agostino Colussi, Andrea Tortosa.
Application Number | 20090119617 12/235258 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40589418 |
Filed Date | 2009-05-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090119617 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Colussi; Agostino ; et
al. |
May 7, 2009 |
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING THE ARRANGEMENTS OF WINDOWS ON A
DISPLAY
Abstract
One aspect of the present invention includes management of the
presentation of information on a display. In one embodiment, this
includes defining a delimited area on the display for a
predetermined activity, and identifying a new application, which
when active, comprises an active location on the display that
covers some or all of the delimited area. When the new application
covers some or all of the delimited area, the active location of
the new application is automatically changed so that the new
application will not cover any of the delimited area. Accordingly,
the delimited area of the display can be preserved for
uninterrupted use by a user.
Inventors: |
Colussi; Agostino; (Rome,
IT) ; Tortosa; Andrea; (Rome, IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OPPENHEIMER, WOLFF & DONNELLY, LLP
PLAZA VII, SUITE 3300, 45 SOUTH SEVENTH STREET
MINNEAPOLIS
MN
55402-1609
US
|
Assignee: |
International Business Machines
Corporation
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
40589418 |
Appl. No.: |
12/235258 |
Filed: |
September 22, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/808 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0481 20130101;
G06F 3/0483 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/808 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 7, 2007 |
EP |
07120128.9 |
Claims
1. A method for managing the presentation of information on a
display, comprising: defining a delimited area on the display for a
predetermined activity; identifying a new application which when
active comprises an active location on the display that covers some
or all of the delimited area; and automatically changing the active
location of the new application within the display such that the
active location does not cover any of the delimited area.
2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the step of automatically
changing the active location of the new application comprises
moving the new application to a new active location.
3. The method as in claim 1, wherein the step of automatically
changing the active location of the new application comprises
opening the new application in a new active location.
4. The method as in claim 1, further comprising identifying one or
more operative applications when the delimited area is defined.
5. The method as in claim 4, further comprising comparing the new
application with the one or more operative applications.
6. The method as in claim 5, further comprising refraining from
automatically changing the active location of the new application
if the new application is identical to one of the one or more
operative applications.
7. The method as in claim 1, wherein the identifying step comprises
applying an image recognition algorithm to determine an overlap
area between the active location and the delimited area.
8. The method as in claim 1, further comprising identifying an
extent of the overlap area, wherein automatically changing the
active location of the new application is performed after the
extent exceeds a predetermined value.
9. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium
having a computer readable program for managing the presentation of
information on a display, wherein the computer readable program
when executed on a computer causes the computer to: define a
delimited area on the display for a predetermined activity;
identify a new application which when active comprises an active
location on the display that covers some or all of the delimited
area; and automatically change the active location of the new
application within the display such that the active location does
not cover any of the delimited area.
10. A system for managing the presentation of information on a
display, the system comprising: a module for defining a delimited
area on the display for carrying out a predetermined activity; a
module for identifying a new application which when active
comprises an active location on the display that covers some or all
of the delimited area; and a processor for processing the new
application to automatically change the active location of the new
application within the display such that the active location does
not cover any of the delimited area.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a method and system for
controlling the arrangement of windows on a display, particularly
but not exclusively for the display of information on a computer
screen or other display environment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In a computer environment, for example during an Internet
connection, the display of unwanted pop-ups and panels are
commonplace. This can be very frustrating and cause nuisance to a
user. As a workaround, pop-up blockers exist which relate to
specific applications such as browsers. This generally prevents all
pop-ups from appearing, but pop-up blockers only function within
those specific applications. Thus, presently available pop-up
blockers do not relate to the desktop or overall display
environments being used by the user, and do not provide an
intelligent manner by which the greater management of pop-ups and
windows on a display can be handled.
[0003] Existing technologies used to control the desktop also fail
to enable complete control of window arrangement and display. For
example, US 2006/0161623A1 discloses a method and apparatus for
sharing information on a desktop with another device, where the
desktop includes a hidden window which cannot be viewed on the
other device. Additionally, US 2006/0107229A1 discloses a method
and apparatus for using a three-dimensional transformation which
effectively decouples an operating system from the application it
hosts, in order to minimize visual clutter on the desktop.
[0004] None of the available prior art techniques appear to address
the objective problem of fully controlling the location and display
of windows within a graphical user interface. It is an object of
the present invention to alleviate some of the problems associated
with these prior art techniques. It is a further object of the
present invention to provide a method and system to effectively
handle and control the display of pop-up information in new windows
on the desktop or other display environments.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] One aspect of the present invention provides a method for
arranging windows within a display to enable a user to operate in
an uninterrupted fashion within a delimited working area. In one
embodiment, this method comprises the steps of: defining a
delimited area on the display for a predetermined activity;
identifying a new application which when active comprises an active
location on the display that would cover some or all of the
delimited area; and processing the new application to automatically
change the active location thereof on the display such that the
active location would not cover some or all of the delimited
area.
[0006] Another aspect of the present invention provides a
corresponding system for arranging windows on a display to
similarly utilize a delimited working area. This system comprises:
a module for defining a delimited area on the display to carry out
a predetermined activity; a module for identifying a new
application, which when active, comprises an active location on the
display that would cover some or all of the delimited area; a
processor for processing the new application to automatically
change the active location thereof on the display such that the
active location would not cover some or all of the delimited
area.
[0007] Further aspects of the invention can be seen in the appended
dependent claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Reference will now be made by way of example to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a display at a first time,
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of the display at a second
time, in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0011] FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of the display at a third
time, in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0012] FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of the display in three
dimensions, in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of an operation for controlling
the arrangement of windows on a display in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0014] FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of an operation for controlling
the arrangement of windows on a display in accordance with a
further embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] Referring initially to FIG. 1, a delimited working area 100
is shown within a display. In addition, further active applications
102 and 104 may also be actively displayed within the display. The
delimited working area 100 is a specific area of the display which
is defined by a user or in any other appropriate manner and is
intended to be an area which is protected in a certain manner. The
nature of the protection of the delimited working area 100 will
depend on the particular application of the invention. For example,
the delimited working area may be protected such that a pop-up or
new window cannot be launched or displayed in this area. Similarly,
the delimited working area may be configured to be protected from
other events, for example, from the classic CTRL+F command which
typically opens a search panel just over the window of the
application currently in use, or from the events of a running
minimized application which produces a popup error. The delimited
working area therefore is the area which is dedicated to specific
activities that may be worked on at the present time. There is no
limit to the specific activities that may be carried out in this
delimited working area.
[0016] Referring to FIG. 2, a new window 200 may be launched, which
covers some or all of the delimited working area 100. The new
window may be a panel, pop-up, form, or any other appropriate
application or GUI. As the new window 200 has opened into some of
the delimited working area, this embodiment of the present
invention operates by moving this application automatically away
from the delimited working area 100. This can also be seen in FIG.
3 where new window 200 has been moved to position 300. Similarly,
in a three-dimensional desktop as illustrated in FIG. 4, the
arrangement of the working area and other applications will be
three-dimensional also. The delimited working area 100 will be at
the front while other operative applications (for example, 102 and
104) will be placed behind. The new position of new window 200 is
shown as 300 as in FIG. 4.
[0017] Referring to FIG. 5, a flowchart of the method steps of one
embodiment of the present invention will now be described. At step
500, a new window (panel, form, or pop-up) is displayed and becomes
the focus of activity on the display screen. A determination is
made at step 502 as to whether or not the new window covers part of
a previously delimited working area. If the answer is no (as in
step 504) the process stops (as in step 506). If the answer is yes
(as in step 508) the process proceeds to step 510. Step 510
includes step 512 at which a determination is made as to whether
the new window relates to an application instance that was already
opened when the working area was delimited. This is important as it
provides the ability to determine whether the new window is an
application that is not required by the user.
[0018] If the answer to the question in step 512 is yes (as in step
514) the process stops (as in step 516). This indicates that the
application that has opened at step 500 is one that is already in
the display but not the current active window. If the answer to the
question in step 512 is no (as in step 518) the process continues
to step 520. This means that the application that was opened at
step 500 is not an application that was already opened when the
delimited working area was set up and as such would be a nuisance
to the user if it opened in the delimited working area. As a
result, at step 520 the new window is processed and moved from the
delimited working area to a different area on the screen, for
example to a new active location. The focus and any action that is
being carried out at the time then returns to the original position
in the delimited working area at step 522. In other words, for
example, the cursor returns to the place where it was last located
before the process was carried out.
[0019] Step 510 described above, is an optional step and may be
skipped according to user selection. Thus, forms and windows
related to the protected application instances may be configured to
be moved only if desired.
[0020] In FIG. 5 the steps take place as a new window appears on
the display or screen. FIG. 6, on the other hand, is carried out at
an earlier point. FIG. 6 relates to the method steps of when a new
window is going to be displayed on the screen while a delimited
working area exists. At step 600, identification is made that a new
window is going to be displayed. At Step 602 a determination is
made as to whether or not the new window would cover part of the
previously delimited working area where it is to open. If no (as in
step 604) the process exits (as in step 606). If yes (as in step
608) step 610 proceeds if the user has optionally determined that
any new windows should not enter the delimited working area. Step
610 includes steps 612 where a determination is made as to whether
or not the new window that is going to open is an application that
was already running when the delimited working area was defined. If
the application was already running (yes as in step 614) the
process exits in step 616. If the new window was not already
running (no as in step 618) step 620 proceeds. In step 620 the new
window processed and is opened in an area that is away from the
delimited working area, such as the new active location. The active
focus point of the user then returns to the original focal point at
step 622.
[0021] The invention has been described with reference to the
display or screen that is generally associated with a computer or
other processing device (for example, a PDA). It will be
appreciated by one skilled in the art, however, that numerous other
platforms for application of the present invention may exist.
[0022] The steps 502 and 602 of determining whether the new window
covers part of the previously delimited working area may be carried
out in many different ways. For example, the delimited working area
may be scanned or analyzed to detect the location in which the new
window opens or will open. In addition, aspects of the setup of the
new window can be calculated to determine the size of the new
window and therefore to determine whether the new window will
partially or completely cover the delimited working area. For
example, by using image recognition algorithms, a determination of
the percentage of overlap between the new window and the delimited
working area can be identified, such that the new window is moved
when the percentage overlap exceeds a predetermined limit. This
limit may be set by the user or in any other appropriate way.
[0023] The present invention therefore provides a number of
advantages. By invoking the optional step of requiring any new
window to be moved from the delimited working area, the user will
be able to work an uninterrupted and unhindered manner. By
predicting where a new window is going to open and whether or not
it relates to an application that was already running when the
working area was delimited, the user can see pop-ups or other new
windows which may be of interest, without being specifically
disturbed by the presence of the new window. In addition, in this
way the manner in which information is presented on a display is
more effectively managed.
[0024] It will be appreciated that examples other than those
described above may exist, which fall within the scope of the
present invention. For example, the steps may take place in
different order. Although various representative embodiments of
this invention have been described above with a certain degree of
particularity, those skilled in the art could make numerous
alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the
spirit or scope of the inventive subject matter set forth in the
specification and claims.
* * * * *